A project to store Canada’s nuclear waste is moving forward in northwestern Ontario with the selection of a design and construction team, according to a May 12 news release from the project owner, Nuclear Waste Management Organization.
Construction will cost at least $3.2 billion (4.5 billion Canadian dollars) over the next decade. But NWMO puts the total cost of the facility at CA$26 billion over its proposed 175-year lifetime.
The Deep Geological Repository will use engineered and natural barriers to isolate and contain used nuclear fuel underground on the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace site, according to NWMO, a nonprofit tasked with managing Canada’s intermediate- and high-level radioactive waste.
NWMO tapped Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit for construction and Montreal-headquartered WSP to provide design and engineering services. Other team members include:
- Mississauga, Ontario-headquartered Hatch, which will provide mining/nuclear systems and facilities design.
- Sherwood, Saskatchewan-based Thyssen, the mining constructor.
- Toronto-based Kinectrics, the nuclear management advisor.
The team will use the integrated project delivery model, according to WSP. That means NWMO and the companies involved will assign team members to a project execution team to work collaboratively as a single unit in a co-located office space.
The project comes as tech giants increasingly turn to nuclear power to meet the growing energy demands of the data center boom. Contractors such as Fluor have also recently cited a rise in nuclear project work.
Design for the repository entails a multiple-barrier system to contain and isolate used nuclear fuel over the very long term, according to NWMO’s website. It will be built to a depth of 2,100 to 2,600 feet below ground and will consist of a network of placement rooms for the fuel containers.
Construction will begin after the repository has successfully completed the federal government’s multiyear regulatory process and the Indigenous-led Regulatory Assessment and Approval Process, which will be developed and implemented by Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, according to NWMO.
“We look forward to the opportunity to work with our project partners to deliver this invaluable project, an important step forward for Canada’s current and future nuclear energy production,” said Marie-Claude Dumas, president of WSP in Canada, in the release.
Construction is expected to begin in the mid-2030s, with the goal of the site being operational by the early 2040s, CBC News reported.
